Dr. King Discussion: Speech One

[antonyh]

Here is the first Landmark Speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Study Guide:
1) What insights did you gain from this speech about your own civil rights activism?
2) What insights could be applied to our civil rights activism as a community (not just Soulforce, but all LGBT civil rights organizations)?

Address to First Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, at Holt Street Baptist Church

5 December 1955
Montgomery, Alabama

My friends, we are certainly very happy to see each of you out this evening. We are here this evening for serious business. [Audience:] (Yes) We are here in a general sense because first and foremost we are American citizens (That's right), and we are determined to apply our citizenship to the fullness of its meaning. (Yeah. That's right) We are here also because of our love for democracy (Yes), because of our deep-seated belief that democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action (Yes) is the greatest form of government on earth. (That's right)

Continued at Stanford U:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/p...lt_street.html

[antonyh]

As I read this speech by Dr. King, Rosa Parks comes into focus for me. Here is one lady that refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. That one act alone in many ways seemed to spark the civil rights movement for African Americans. Our personal activism is important, but we often forget this fact. It is much easier to trust our destiny to the professionals at HRC, Lambda Legal, etc. While we need these organizations, every LGBT person needs to become an activist for us to take this thing home.

[Gennee]

You're right, Antonyh. I have been involved with a couple of organizations. i hope to become more involved in the future. I will become more involved because protections for gender identity is important to me personally.

Gennee

[Vanessa White]

Antony: I have yet to get the audios of his speeches, which I know that I will have to do, just out of the necessity to hear his beautiful voice stating these very words. Two things strike me about this speech:
First, Martin seemed able, at least in this speech, to not only inspire emotional responses by those that were listening to him, in a way, able to stir the spirit of those people, yet he was also able to be "practical", in speaking about the actual laws on the books that "forbid" a negro from sitting on certain sections of the bus. I never really noticed that balance before in a speech of his, because the ability to "raise the roof" is always what got my attention. But, both parts are needed, I believe, to be an effective activist.

That being said, the second part that I think of when I read this one, is something that I read about Rosa Parks after she passed away a year or two ago. She often said in interviews after the Montgomery bus boycotts, and her arrest, that she didn't sit down INTENDING to be an activist, INTENDING on disobeying the so called city ordinance.

She had worked all day and she was tired.

Something that I would presume many of us would want to do at the end of a hard day's work. So, in a sense, she became an activist without even intending to. The lesson I take from that is that, even when I am sitting down because I am tired, I am making a statement, standing for something important, making a difference.

I really don't want to wait for others to represent me, or our community. I need to be brave enough and strong enough to say the words myself. So we can all "sit" in any seat on the "bus" that we want to.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Gennee

You're right, Antonyh. I have been involved with a couple of organizations. i hope to become more involved in the future. I will become more involved because protections for gender identity is important to me personally.

Gennee

This is definitely a great place to get active. In America, four states, 57 cities and 10 counties include transgender people in antidiscrimination laws. 25% of the U.S. population is legally protected from at least some kinds of transgender discrimination and 75% is not.

Lots to do for sure.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

She often said in interviews after the Montgomery bus boycotts, and her arrest, that she didn't sit down INTENDING to be an activist, INTENDING on disobeying the so called city ordinance.

She had worked all day and she was tired.

That is interesting. I wonder if she is just being humble. She refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. It was an act of civil disobedience. I'm sure she didn't intend all this to happen but when the moment came she stood her ground.

I think as LGBT people we often have moments to "stand our ground". I think making a commitment to being out is the most important way we stand our ground as LGBT individuals.

Aside:

I found a photograph of Rosa Parks taken in 1955 the year of the speech we are reading. The man in the background is Martin Luther King.

[antonyh]

Here is the quote from MLK:

Mrs. Rosa Parks is a fine person. (Well,) And, since it had to happen, I'm happy that it happened to a person like Mrs. Parks, (Yes) for nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity. (Sure enough) Nobody can doubt the height of her character (Yes)...And I'm happy, since it had to happen, it happened to a person that nobody can call a disturbing factor in the community. (All right) Mrs. Parks is a fine...person, unassuming, and yet there is integrity and character there. And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested.

I think it is interesting that Dr. King makes such a big deal about the integrity of Rosa Parks and how central it was in the effectiveness of her civil disobedience. Character is actually part of the soulforce credo here at this site too:
http://www.soulforce.org/article/682

I was reading what Jerry Maneker said in his blog recently at Christian LGBT Rights. Here is his blistering critique about lack of character and meaningful activism in the LGBT community:

Of course, I can be wrong in this contention, but I see no evidence of the desire for meaningful activism galvanizing itself behind any current LGBT rights "leader(s)"; I see that "meaningful activism" as anemically being identified, as I stated in my November 15th post, with marching in Pride parades and referring to oneself and to others in the LGBT community with demeaning labels.

Self-loathing only goes so far as to explain this phenomenon! I think the lion's share of the blame for the political apathy and disdain for, and/or the desire for distraction from, discussions of meaningful activism, as seen by comments on assorted progressive LGBT blogs, is pure, unadulterated, selfishness ("I've got mine!") and with one's being content with not even thinking or, worse, even caring, that he/she is still a second-class citizen; frivolity; hedonism; self-indulgence that has characterized America, and much if not most of the LGBT community, since the 1980's...

The tragedy, it seems to me, is that it's a combination of self-indulgence; hedonism (see here, for example); addiction to frivolity; selfishness; with a touch of self-loathing that consciously and unconsciously "justifies" the feeling that the homophobes "might have something there" in their condemnation and denying Gay people the same civil and sacramental rights as Straight people enjoy.
http://christianglbtrights.blogspot....eaningful.html

Interesting, so what do you think...is the character we have and the character we bring to activism essential to make meaningful progress?

[Pablo Rafael]

My respect for Martin Luther King grows year by year. I also wish I had this on audio so I could hear his voice.

And we are not wrong; we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to Earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie, love has no meaning.

I think sometimes we slide into relativism. We think that there is no right and no wrong. But I would hope that we all could agree 50 years after this speech that the opression of people of color in our world was wrong and is wrong. Those who lived during the days of slavery had to know that it was wrong no matter how hard they tried to justify it. The founding fathers of our nation had to know that injustice was wrong when they established a slave-holding nation. (It makes me wonder if I have any prejudices that I hold on to.)

Let us be Christian in all of our actions. But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.

This brings to mind the words of Saint James that faith must show itself in action. Not only did the blacks of Montgomery take a stand for justice, but some white allies as well.

Too often those of us who are not directly involved in a situation sit back because it is not us. I think of the Lutheran church in Nazi Germany (The Catholic church did little better). It was totally silent about the Jewish holocaust. (Deitrich Bonhoeffer being almost the lone exception). Where were the Christian voices for justice? I really appreciate the straight allies that we have in the struggle for LGBT equality. Without them we have no chance to change our society.

On a side topic: From what I have read, Rosa Parks was very active in the civil right movement before the famous "bus" incident. It was not something that happened out of the blue but was part of a plan. I really doubt she planned to become the pivotal figure that she eventually did, but it was part of an organized movement. (I could be misinformed about this, but that's how I understand it.)

Also we need to realize that the civil rights movement is not over. The struggle is ongoing. When black people make 58% as much as whites in the United States, there is still work to do. When all our presidents have been white men, there is still work to do. When the lower-income segment of our society is left poorer year by year, without medical care and in sub-standard schools, the fight for justice is far from over.

Pablo

[Vanessa White]

It shows that we care about the cause because we possess genuine care, love and concern for ourselves and others in our plight. Character shows that there is more to us than just our sexual orientation, but that our sexual orientation is an ESSENTIAL part. Character allows us to be peaceful in our activism I think, because character comes from the soul. I believe, as I am discovering right now as I write this! that activism can actually be pursued by just about anyone, but JUSTICE, justice to me is much difference. The change that Martin Luther King Jr. and others were and still are striving for was about justice, and I never really realized until the last few months how deep of a concept justice is. Justice is about looking deeper than giving LGBTQ persons equal rights: it is giving us those equal rights simply because it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO. I think changes can happen without character, but I don't think the changes are as long lasting, or have as deep of meaning as when character is involved.

I can finally identify with justice, because I firmly believe in what it is I am striving for now, for myself and for the community. I don't think that I really knew before this what I was fighting for actually, weird as that sounds. It just felt like I was SUPPOSED to be concerned and SUPPOSED to be fighting for something, because it spoke to my situation.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

It shows that we care about the cause because we possess genuine care, love and concern for ourselves and others in our plight. Character shows that there is more to us than just our sexual orientation, but that our sexual orientation is an ESSENTIAL part. Character allows us to be peaceful in our activism I think, because character comes from the soul. I believe, as I am discovering right now as I write this! that activism can actually be pursued by just about anyone, but JUSTICE, justice to me is much difference. The change that Martin Luther King Jr. and others were and still are striving for was about justice, and I never really realized until the last few months how deep of a concept justice is. Justice is about looking deeper than giving LGBTQ persons equal rights: it is giving us those equal rights simply because it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO. I think changes can happen without character, but I don't think the changes are as long lasting, or have as deep of meaning as when character is involved.

I can finally identify with justice, because I firmly believe in what it is I am striving for now, for myself and for the community. I don't think that I really knew before this what I was fighting for actually, weird as that sounds. It just felt like I was SUPPOSED to be concerned and SUPPOSED to be fighting for something, because it spoke to my situation.

Thank you for this inspiring post. We need believe that what we do is about justice, that we are asking America to simply do the right thing. Period. When I lived in Bloomington, IN and attended the Episcopal Church down there, Mother Linda used to tell us almost every Thursday night, "Justice is about restoring to someone something that was rightfully theirs all along and was wrongfully taken from them."

When we advocate for the Hate Crimes Bill, we are restoring the ability for LGBT people to walk around the streets of America without the fear of violence. This is rightfully ours. When we advocate for ENDA, we are restoring the ability for LGBT people to apply for a job without fear of discrimination on the basis of who they are. This is rightfully ours. When we advocate for same sex marriage, we are restoring the important protections currently available to heterosexual couples. This is rightfully ours. The list can go on and on.

So yes, it is all about justice. Justice is the end, activism is the means.

[Vanessa White]

You are welcome, and you are right. Justice, the ends, activism the means. I am so glad that you started this thread; MLK and his word and deed definitely inspires me......

Love your new avatar BTW.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

You are welcome, and you are right. Justice, the ends, activism the means. I am so glad that you started this thread; MLK and his word and deed definitely inspires me......

Love your new avatar BTW.

MLK totally inspires me. I'm sure Dr. King would say:

Justice is the end, non-violent activism is the means and love is the motive.

We learned this in ethics class that for an action to be good the end, means and motive all need to be good.

That's character

[Vanessa White]

I absolutely agree with your class, and I am now ready for the good. I think that I always aspired to be in line with the ends, means, and motive, but I think that for it to all come together, comes with growth and self knowledge and maturity; even though many of us like to believe in our own character, it is very true to me that character gets built, a step or year or experience at a time. MLK was I am certain a much different person in the beginning of his journey of civil rights than just prior to his death. His character no doubt grew by his experiences throughout. As I have said in another thread here, I don't have to have had every experience that other LGBTQ persons have had; I feel grateful for what I have NOT experienced as a lesbian, yet, my personal growth, healing, relationships, have all brought me to the here and now, to this moment, in which I can have these revelations.

WHAT A RUSH........ it could almost overwhelm me.

[antonyh]

My friends, we are certainly very happy to see each of you out this evening. We are here this evening for serious business. [Audience:] (Yes) We are here in a general sense because first and foremost we are American citizens (That's right), and we are determined to apply our citizenship to the fullness of its meaning. (Yeah. That's right) We are here also because of our love for democracy (Yes), because of our deep-seated belief that democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action (Yes) is the greatest form of government on earth. (That's right)

Why do we strive for civil rights advances for LGBT people in the USA?

1) We are American citizens, and we are DETERMINED to apply our citizenship to the fullness of its meaning.
2) We love democracy
3) Democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action is the greatest form of government on earth.

I am thankful for a country where we can make this happen.